Ye, 24 November
The New Mon State Party (NMSP), an ethnic armed organization, is raising funds from the local Mon community in order to form defense groups in Mon villages under its control, according to the reports.
The NMSP has formed village defense groups in Mon villages and is collecting funds from locals to purchase three guns for each village.
According to a resident of Kawbein, this initiative includes nearly 20 villages and village tracts, including Kawbein, Kawpauk, Kawmeik, Phayar Gyi, and Min Ywar, controlled by the NMSP in Kawkayiek Township, Karen State.
The NMSP instructed to give K30,000 per household from villages with more households and 100,000 or more per household from villages with fewer households within two weeks. Some locals disagreed with the matter. In recent days, three or four people have been collecting money from the houses, and some residents have stated that they are unable to pay the cash in full.
A person close to the NMSP told Than Lwin Times that if fighting broke out between the Military Council and the Joint Revolutionary Army in the Mon villages, a defense group would be formed to protect the lives of the local people.
The NMSP formed a militia group in Thaton district earlier this year after a battle between the junta army and the joint revolutionary forces in Kanni village, a region controlled by the NMSP.
Mon activists have pointed out that the administration of the NMSP needs to be strengthened in order to prevent Mon villages from falling under the control of any armed group if the mechanism of the military council collapses.
The military council suffered losses in Chin, Karenni, Sagaing, and Rakhine after the Three Brotherhood Alliance launched the 1027 operation, and the war zone is gradually expanding to the Mon and Karen.
“Due to these circumstances, it is appropriate to expand the military force led by the NMSP or another ethnic armed group for the security of Mon villages,” a person engaged in Mon affairs said.
Than Lwin Times tried to call the party’s internal affairs officer, Nai Binya Le, at least five times regarding the formation of defense groups in villages in NMSP-controlled areas and the collection of money for the purchase of weapons, but he did not answer.
The New Mon State Party (NMSP) is an ethnic armed organization that signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) with the Lahu Democratic Union (LDU) under Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD government.
However, the NMSP, which said it would solve the political problem only through political means, held peace talks with the military council six times, despite the opposition of the Mon people.
In an interview with the independent Mon News Agency in June, Nai Han Thar, chairman of the New Mon State Party, said that if all the EAOs are involved in the eradication of the military dictatorship, they will also participate in the operation.
News – Than Lwin Times
Photo – Social Media